Method and apparatus for providing player incentives

Abstract

A system and method is provided for incentivizing players to visit a gambling location. In one aspect, a qualified person is invited to play an electronic game which has a plurality of outcomes, at least one of which is a winning outcome. In one embodiment, the qualified person may be required to redeem the outcome at the gambling location. In another embodiment, the person may be required to redeem the outcome at a redemption location.

Description

[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 001,775 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONDUCTING A GAME OF CHANCE,” filed on Nov. 30, 2004; which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 569,030, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONDUCTING A GAME OF CHANCE,” filed on May 7, 2004, both of which are herein incorporated by referenced in their entirety. Furthermore, this application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 704,144, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REMOTE ENTRY IN FREQUENT PLAYER PROGRAMS,” filed on Feb. 8, 2007 which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 771,505, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REMOTE ENTRY IN FREQUENCY PLAYER PROGRAMS,” filed on Feb. 8, 2006, each of which applications are herein incorporated by reference i...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a game format where a player is given a prize to encourage them to return to a casino or other establishment. The prize can be in the form of non-cashable credit, a complimentary offer, or promotional prizes. The player is presented the prize through a computer system. To prevent unauthorized access to the online game, the decryption key is placed on the ticket and a portion of it is stored in a database associated with the game. This makes it difficult for a hacker to compromise the ticket or determine winning ticket numbers. The information used to access the online portion of the key need not be printed on the ticket, and can be provided on some other medium or by another method. Overall, this game format improves the revenue of casinos and other establishments by increasing the number of return players.

Problems solved by technology

While such offers are enticing, they often are not strong enough to overcome the effort of returning to the casino and often times, people simply forget about the offer and do not return within the allotted time to collect their incentive.

It is expensive for the casino to market to the general population because so many people are unqualified for gambling because of age restrictions or the biases of personal belief.

And the burden of making a first-ever visit to the casino are comparatively high in terms of comfort and convenience, so incentives must be disproportionately large.

As a result of these factors, most gambling venues, such as casinos, find it prohibitively expensive to recruit new players to the extent desired.

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